Download Theories on Why Rome Declined and Fell

Theories on Why Rome Declined and Fell
1. Inflation
Rome suffered from an high increase in the cost of goods known as inflation. Earlier in Rome’s history,
Roman conquest of new territories kept gold flowing into Rome’s treasury. By the end of the empire, this
source of gold dried up as Rome stopped conquering new lands. Furthermore, Rome spent a ton of gold on
foreign luxuries. So the supply of gold in Rome steadily decreased. As Rome ran out of gold, they started to
mint new coins using less gold in them. This decreased the value of the coins, causing businesses to charge
higher prices for their goods. Many people even stopped accepting coins as payment and began to barter with
one another where they traded goods for other goods. Eventually, salaries had to be paid in food and clothing,
and taxes collected in fruits and vegetables. Because money became worthless, trade and business became more
inefficient which helped bring the economy to its knees. Some historians argue that this helped lead to the
collapse of the Roman Empire.
2. Political Corruption
The process for choosing new emperors led to a lot of problems for Rome. This is because there was no
set process. At first, who the new emperor would be was a result of negotiations between the Roman Senate, the
army, and the Praetorian Guard – the armed forces in Rome who served as the emperor’s personal guard.
Eventually, the Praetorian Guard took control over the process. Pretty soon, this process became corrupt. The
Praetorian Guard would support whichever candidate could bribe them the best, which obviously is not the best
way to choose who would lead an entire empire. Oftentimes, the Praetorian Guard would shift their allegiance
from one emperor to another based on whom they thought would offer them more. Beginning in 186AD, Rome
had 37 different emperors over a 100 year span. 25 of these emperors were assassinated after just a few years as
general after general seized power and the Guard supported whomever they felt was in their own self-interest.
This political corruption, some historians argue, contributed to the decline of the Roman Empire.
3. Unemployment
Most of the farming done in the Roman Empire was done on large plantations owned by wealthy
patricians. These plantations used slave labor – which Rome had an abundance of. Since a farmer who hired
workers to farm his land could not compete with a farmer who employed slave labor, pretty soon there were no
jobs for non-slave workers. All of these unemployed workers ended up in the cities looking for work that simply
was not there for them. The Roman government had to support these people and gave them free bread, which
was enormously expensive. At one point, the emperor had to import enough grain to feed 100,000 unemployed
people in just the city of Rome. Some historians believe that this contributed to the collapse of the Roman
Empire.
4. Decline in Morals and Values
Some historians believe that a decline in morality helped weaken the Roman empire. Thieves and
criminals ran rampant, making life unsafe. According to Roman historians there were 32,000 prostitutes in
Rome during the reign of Emperor Trajan. Emperors like Nero and Caligula became infamous for wasting
money on lavish parties. Wealthy Romans spent their money on lavish luxuries such as imported ice. Romans
were also fascinated with the cruel spectacles of gladiator combats in arenas such as the Coliseum. Here, slaves
were forced to fight and kill one another and even animals (which were often imported from exotic locales for
much money as well). Everyone attended these fights – rich, poor, and even the emperor himself. Some
historians argue that as Romans became focused on cruelty and luxuries, they got away from traditional Roman
values of hard work, sacrifice for the state, and devotion to defending their countrymen.
5. Poisoning
The upper classes of Rome may have suffered from lead poisoning. Patricians would use lead pipes to
bring water into their homes and lead utensils to eat their food. This might have caused them to develop lead
poisoning, which leads to mental illness and eventual death. Some historians argue that this may have caused
the weakness in Rome’s leadership by the end of the Roman Empire.
6. Excessive Military Spending
Rome had conquered a huge empire. This meant that they also had huge borders to defend. Right when
the Roman economy could have used investments in infrastructure, such as new roads or public housing, or new
businesses, the Roman Empire had to spend most of its money on the huge armies needed to defend the border.
During the early part of Roman history, serving in the military was an important part of Roman values.
However, by the end, citizens were no longer lining up to volunteer to help defend the state. So the government
had to spend vast amounts of resources hiring soldiers. They even hired foreign mercenaries from barbarian
tribes. To pay for all these government expenses, taxes had to be high which helped weaken the economy even
more. Some historians believe that this helped lead to the fall of the Empire.
7. Barbarian Invasions
For years, German tribes to the north of Roman borders threatened to encroach and raid into Roman
lands, but the Roman army held them back. In the 3rd century AD though, the Roman armies were withdrawn
from the German border to help fight in civil wars in Italy between Roman generals. This allowed the Germanic
tribes free reign to enter the Empire. Gradually, Germanic forces began to raid and take over Roman lands. In
the 5th century, the city of Rome itself was conquered and sacked several times by Germanic tribes. Think
about that – barbarians were able to conquer and loot the capital of the most powerful empire in the world. In
A.D. 476 the Germanic general Odvacar overthrew the last of the Roman emperors and made himself ruler of all
Italy. From then on, the western part of the Empire was ruled by Germanic tribal chiefs. Chaos descended on
Europe. Roads and bridges were left in disrepair and many fields were left unfarmed. Pirates and bandits made
travel unsafe. Cities declined and trade and business began to disappear.